Chapter 2

  I shifted uncomfortably on the stool, feeling miserable in this outfit. The time for dinner had long passed, but Eighth Brother was late as usual. The initial excitement had worn off, and I couldn't sit still anymore. I got up, snatched the fan from the maid's hand, and fanned myself vigorously. My sister frowned and said, "It's not that hot, is it?" As I continued to fan myself, I said, "If he doesn't arrive soon, I'll go change my clothes. This is torture!" Just as I finished speaking, the curtain was lifted, and three people entered in a row. The one walking in front was around 22 or 23 years old, with a slender build, wearing a moon-white long gown, a blue waistband around his waist, and a matching jade pendant hanging from it. His face was as beautiful as jade, and his eyes shone like bright stars. I secretly admired him, thinking that although Eighth Brother looked a bit effeminate, he was still a handsome man.

  He saw me, with a few threads of surprise in his eyes, a subtle expression, and immediately returned to normal, the corners of his mouth curled up as he turned to look at my sister. At this time, all the maids and servants in the room had already bowed their heads, and I only then reacted, hastily bowing my head too. Alas, it seems I'm still not used to these rules of courtesy.

  He smiled and helped his sister up, saying "Let's get going!" He smiled at his sister and said: "Something came up, so I'll discuss it with Ninth Brother and Tenth Brother later. Since it was a sudden idea, I didn't notify you."

  Sister smiled and said, "It's not a big deal." The eighth prince, ninth prince, and tenth prince all sat down after adjusting their positions. The maid servant helped them wipe their faces and wash their hands. Sister turned around to instruct the eunuchs outside to serve the meal. I stood beside her, thinking in my heart, "Sister ah! How could you forget about me?" The ninth prince had a poker face, while the tenth prince still looked like a rogue, occasionally glancing at me since entering the room. The eighth prince had a hint of a smile on his lips, seeming to be a bit tired, with his eyes slightly closed. Sister turned around and came in, smiling as she said, "You can have your meal now." The eighth prince nodded, only then opening his eyes to look at me with a smile, asking, "Is this Ruoxi? I heard you weren't feeling well lately, are you better now?" I replied, "I'm almost fully recovered!" The eighth prince smiled again and said, "Now that you're feeling better, don't stand up. Sit down!" I looked at sister, seeing she didn't react, so I sat down.

  At the banquet, Eighth Brother occasionally exchanged a few words with his sister, Ninth Brother quietly ate, but it was actually Tenth Brother who, perhaps because he and I were seated diagonally across from each other, would eat while smiling at me with sparkling eyes, looking like he had an excellent appetite. Originally, I didn't have much of an appetite due to the heat, and now that he kept staring at me, I found it even harder to swallow. I thought to myself, am I considered a "dish that opens one's appetite" for him?

  I took a quick glance around, making sure no one was paying attention, and then immediately looked back at him with a fierce stare. Tenth brother was happily eating and sneaking glances, but when I suddenly stared at him, he froze, his chopsticks still in his mouth, and forgot to take them out. I stared for a few seconds, looking at his silly expression and finding it laughable, so I smiled slightly with my lips pursed together and then lowered my head to continue eating. As I lowered my head, my eyes inadvertently swept across the table and found that my sister, eighth brother, and ninth brother were all staring at me. My heart skipped a beat, and I didn't dare look up again. I quickly ate two mouthfuls, but suddenly choked, turned sideways, and covered my mouth with one hand while coughing, using the other hand to gesture to my sister that everything was fine. I heard tenth brother burst out laughing, but I didn't dare look at him again, pretending nothing was wrong as I rinsed my mouth and continued eating, feeling my face burning hotly.

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  Under a big tree not far from the lake, I was leaning against the tree reading Song lyrics. Yesterday, my sister and I specifically asked for Song lyrics. Because I used to love Song lyrics and memorized many of them, when I read them now, I can recognize many complex characters.

  I thought I was a knowledgeable woman after studying for 16 years in modern times, but when I came here, I became semi-illiterate. The other day, because the eunuch who usually took care of correspondence was not around, I volunteered to read a letter to my sister. However, as I read one letter, I found that about half of it was unrecognizable. Amidst my murmurs and struggles to make out the words, before I even finished reading the letter, my sister burst into laughter on the couch. "You said you'd read the letter, I thought after not seeing each other for years, you'd made progress. But it turns out, you've indeed made some progress - you can use something to replace the characters you don't recognize!" My sister laughed so hard that she took half a day to finish saying this short sentence. I was also left standing there, feeling both ashamed and annoyed. On the spot, I decided that I wouldn't let it be, I would take off my semi-illiterate hat and resolutely become a knowledgeable woman!

  Thinking of this, I couldn't help but laugh at myself. Fortunately, I fell into this young lady's body, so I don't have to worry about food and clothing. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have starved to death with my disabled hands and shoulders. A glance at the corner of my eye caught a few ants in the grass, and suddenly I remembered digging ant holes when I was a kid. I couldn't help but feel excited, and it seemed like I had a bit of a rejuvenating experience in this small body. I used a small twig to block the ants from leaving, taking two steps forward, then being pushed back by me, taking two more steps, and again being pushed back by me.

  I was secretly smiling when I suddenly heard a hissing sound beside my ear. I turned my head and saw the tenth brother squatting next to me, also watching the ants. I glared at him, then looked over and saw another pair of boots. Following the boots up, I met the eighth brother's eyes, which seemed to be smiling but not quite. I quickly stood up and greeted them.

  The tenth brother got up from the ground, looking lazy, and smiled at the eighth brother, saying: "Looking at the ghost girl's expression, I thought she was something good! It seems I overestimated her." I thought to myself, let you overestimate me, it's not necessarily an honor.

  Eighth Brother smiled and asked, "Reading Song poetry?" I glanced at the book lying on the ground, "Yes!" Tenth Brother chimed in, "Just watching ants, putting on a show of reading for people to see." I turned my head to look at him, who was only seventeen or eighteen years old, yet acting like an elder in front of me. I replied, "Don't you know 'one flower one world, one tree one Bodhi'? I'm looking at ants, but it's not just ants."

  He was a bit stunned, not knowing how to respond, and looked at Eighth Brother. Eighth Brother smiled and nodded, "Old Ten, you should study hard now!" And then asked me with a smile: "Do you read Buddhist scriptures?" I quickly replied: "I just listened to my sister recite them many times." He smiled and turned to look at the lake, after a while he said: "Reciting is indeed many!"

  I pondered for a moment, and he still had a smile on his face, unable to discern what he meant, so I replied faintly: "What I've gained is just peace of mind." He didn't say anything, but just smiled at the lake.

  Next to the tenth brother, who had been waiting for half a day, seemed unable to get in on the conversation and was somewhat bored. He picked up a book from the ground and asked, "Do you recognize these?" I looked at his provocative gaze and wanted to say that I recognized them, but the fact was there, so I said, "I recognize... they recognize me, I don't recognize them, but we're getting familiar with each other." He burst out laughing again. I don't know why, but whenever I see the tenth brother's expression, I get a bit irritable and say whatever comes to mind without thinking it through. The eighth brother laughed and asked, "How do you make yourself recognize them?" I thought for a moment and said, "Guess for myself!" The tenth brother laughed and shouted, "Is that okay? We don't need to invite a teacher anymore, we can just guess on our own!"

  Eighth Brother sighed and shook his head, saying "Let's go!" as he walked ahead. Tenth Brother hastily returned the book to me and caught up with him, but after just a few steps, he turned around and asked me, "We're going to another courtyard to ride horses, are you coming?" My heart skipped a beat at this - I hadn't even left the courtyard since arriving here! I eagerly ran forward, "Can I really go? And what about my sister's place?"

  He said, "What's wrong with going? I'll find a gentle old horse for you, and have the young servant lead it. As for your sister's place, what does that have to do with me?" I saw him putting on airs again, and had a mind to jab at him a few times, but was also thinking of this rare opportunity to go out, so could only... endure.

  Watching him walk wasn't fast, but I had to jog a little to keep up. I pretended to suddenly have a good idea and said, "Eighth Master said that sister must have heard it." He looked at me and said, "Then go tell Eighth Brother!" I felt like I could hear myself grinding my teeth, how did this old man become someone who just smoothly climbed the ranks? Annoyed, I said, "You invited me, you need to take responsibility all the way through, or else I won't go!" He glanced at me sideways with a look that said 'you can go or not'. I turned around and started walking back, he quickly grabbed my arm and said, "Alright! Alright! I'll go talk to him, okay?!" Only then did I smile at him, shake off his hand, and follow him as he walked quickly.

  When we reached the entrance, the young servants came up to say that the carriage was ready. Eighth Brother didn't say a word and led me onto the carriage, Tenth Brother also jumped aboard. The little servant who knelt down to be my footrest couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen years old, with an innocent look on his face. I stared at his back, but somehow my foot just wouldn't step onto his back.

  Tenth brother shouted in the carriage: "What's the delay?" Eighth brother was sitting on the opposite side, smiled and stretched out his hand. I let out a sigh of relief, had the servant move aside, grabbed eighth brother's hand and pulled myself up into the carriage. Tenth brother grumbled "Troublesome!" as he shifted over to make room for me beside him.

  I lay on the windowsill, looking out at the street where people were coming and going in a hurry, shops stood in rows, carriages passed by, and people voluntarily stepped aside to make way. Although there were many people, the speed of the carriage was not slow. I looked outside and exclaimed "hmm", but then thought about it again and understood, shaking my head.

  Tenth brother poked his head out of the window, looked back and forth for a while, then pulled it back in. He asked me with a puzzled expression, "What did you see just now?" I was taken aback, then smiled and said, "I'm not telling you what I saw." I turned to look outside again. He glared at me hatefully, ignoring me, but after a while he couldn't help asking again, "What exactly did you see?" I turned my head back around, looking straight ahead, ignoring him. Tenth brother nudged me and I said, "I'll tell you, but only if you give me something good in return."

  "He shouted: 'Just ask you what you see, and still want to give you benefits!' 'It's not that simple, I saw something interesting, if you want to listen, of course, you have to give some benefits. Don't you usually pay when listening to stories?' I said, then lifted the curtain again to look outside. After a while, I felt something extra in my hand, and it was a silver ticket. He said: 'Can I talk now?' I threw the ticket back at him with a snort. 'Hmph!' 'Then what do you want?'"

  I burst out laughing, thinking that I was teasing him and he really didn't know what to do. Suddenly, I remembered "The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber", "I also can't think of anything right now, so how about this? You just agree to one request from me in the future." Seeing him wanting to open his mouth, I continued, "Absolutely won't be something you can't do. Besides, you're an older brother agreeing to a little girl's request, what's difficult about that?" He was a bit unwilling, but finally smiled and said "Alright! I agree!" I clapped my hands laughing and said: "You'd better remember, I have witnesses!" After getting on the carriage, Eighth Brother closed his eyes to rest. Hearing my words, he opened his eyes, glanced at Tenth Brother, then smiled at me and said: "Remembered, you can speak now!"

  "Uh-huh!" I cleared my throat and said: "There were many people on the street, but the carriage was moving very smoothly. The pedestrians we saw all gave way from a distance, but we didn't show that Mr. Belle was sitting inside. At that time, I was a little puzzled about what was going on, so I let out an exclamation." "And you shook your head?" I continued: "Later, I thought again, such a carriage is not something ordinary people can ride in. This is also under the feet of the Son of Heaven, and even the common people have seen a lot. So, even if they don't know who's sitting inside, it's always right to give way. As for shaking my head, it was just because I thought about how I had become a fox spirit."

  "What's with the fox?" Ten Ge looked at me in confusion, then turned to Eight Ge. Eight Ge chuckled and said, "A fox using a tiger's might." Ten Ge suddenly understood, was about to laugh, but stopped himself and shouted, "So that's it! I'll change my request!" I couldn't help but laugh when I saw his frustrated expression. When I looked up, I caught Eight Ge staring at Old Ten, who was also smiling. But this time, the smile seemed different from before. I stared, trying to figure out what it was. Eight Ge glanced sideways, meeting my inquiring gaze. We just stood there, silently looking at each other. In the end, I couldn't take it anymore and lowered my head. I thought to myself, indeed formidable, worthy of being a master of playing with hearts. Just like back then when I would stare down the boys in our class, no one dared to face me head-on.